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Chapter Thirty-One
John Cusack, eat your heart out.
When school went back, it was torture. Seeing her every day, laughing and smiling with her friends like what we’d had meant nothing. I knew it was for the best, but fuck it hurt. After my drunken declaration, sober me had realised it was a fucking stupid idea. Sober me was probably just scared of rejection, but I wasn’t going to dignify that with an acknowledgement.
“Even if,” I snapped at Rio for the hundredth time. “Even if I wanted to beg her to take me back, she’s moved on. It’s obvious she’s moved on.”
“Her and Carter are just friends.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you think she’s moved on?”
I waved an arm in her general direction on the other side of the oval. “Just look at her.”
“Wow,” Rio chuckled.
I glared at him. “What?”
“Heartbreak’s made you a fucking idiot.”
I growled at him. “How exactly?”
“Before all this shit went down, you could see through her mask. I don’t know if you’re being intentionally thick or not, but that is not a girl who’s moved on.” He clapped his hands in my face. “I am about done with your shit, Lombardi. We agreed we were winning her back, and now you’re backpedalling. I am not above punching the fear out of you.”
“Who said I was scared?”
“I did, just now. And I’m sticking by it. I get you’re scared she’ll reject you. But you’ve rejected her a million times. Surely it’s your turn to fight now?”
I took a deep breath. “Fuck,” I muttered. “When you put it like that… When you’re right, you’re right.”
“Good. So, what are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “Pull out some big fucking romantic gesture, of course.”
He gave me a sarcastic grin. “Of course. Ideas?”
I had one idea. That was it. One. But I was pretty sure it was the ace I needed. “Well she fucking loves John Cusack, right?”
Rio’s grin widened as he worked it out. “I fucking love it.”
I shrugged, ignoring the fact he knew what I was talking about. “There’s no other option.”
He shook his head. “No, there isn’t.”
“I’ve got one shot.”
“Do not fuck it up this time.”
I glared at him. “Thanks.”
It took longer than I thought to find an old boom box, let alone one that played anything I could get my hands on. Luckily, Mum had an old cassette tape. Breaking into the school system for her timetable had been the easiest part of the whole endeavour.
“She’d better fucking appreciate this,” I muttered as we were putting the boom box in the back of my ute on Friday.
“Selfless gesture,” Rio reminded me, and I glared at him.
“Look, she can tell me to fuck off, but she still better appreciate the backwards arse shit I’ve had to cobble together to do this.”
